Vania



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK MCKEE AND CHARLES BALLINGER, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYL- VANIA,ASSIGNORS TO MOKEE AND BROTHERS, OF SAME PLACE.

GLASS-PRESSING MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern: Y

Be it known that we, FREDERICK MGKEE and CHARLES BALLINGER, ofPittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Steam Presses forPressing Glass and other Vitretled Material; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawing, making a part of 'thisspeciticatiomin which- The gure represents a perspective view of theentire machine.

Our invention consists, first, in the application of the power of steamto the working of a piston and plunger for pressing glass in molds, aswill be explained.

It consists, second, in separating the pis` l tonrod ofthesteam-cylinder from the pistonrod of the plunger in such a Way as thatwhile both shall descend together the steam piston-rod may rise withoutthe other.

It consists, third, in the combination of an overpoise weight or itsequivalent with the divided pistons and the pressing mechanism, so thatwhen the press is run down by the action of the steam the operator mayhold it down,while the steam-piston may rise up without it, and theoverpoise, when released, raise it up.

It consists, fourth, in combining with the divided joint of the twopistons spring-jaws or their equivalents, that hold and release themechanism by which the steam-valves are operated, thus making the presspartially automatic and partially dependent upon the will or action ofthe operator.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use our invention, wewill proceed to describe the same with reference to the draw- Arepresents a bed-plate, which, for tle sake ot' convenience oftransportation, may be mounted on wheels B, as is usual withglasspresses. Upon this bed A is mounted the press and engine-frame C,sustaining at or near its top a vertical steam-cylinder, D, furnishedwith a valve or valves at E and steam ports and passages in the usualwell-known Way. F is a piston-rod working in the steamcylinder D, itslower end coming in contact with the piston-rod G, that operates theplunger in the mold. The lower part of this press may be like those incommon use for pressing glass, and, as it constitutes no part of ourinvention, will not be further referred to. Wherethe two piston-rods FGmeet, there are arranged two spring-jaws, a a', that are pivoted at 6and their rear ends, c c, are beveled on" to form a seat for awedge-piece, d, that is attached to a vertical rod, e, that may rise andfall through suitable guides, f. The

lower end of the piston-rod F and the upper end ot' the rod G arebeveled ott, as shown in the drawing, and the jaws a a are so beveled Yas to tit in between the sloped-oft' ends of the4 two rods. To the upperend ot' the rod e is fastened a cord or chain, g, which passes around anarm, h, and thence over a friction-pulley that may be. placed at i,though not shown, and at its end is fastened a weight,j. The arm hisconnected to the valve in the valve-box E, and the drawing down oftherod e operates the valve in one direction, while its ascent whenreleased by the falling of the overpoise-weight j operates said arm andvalve in an opposite direction. The cord or chain g may be fastened tothe arm h, or two or three turns of it made around said arm, so that thefriction will be sufficient to move the valvearm and consequently thevalve.

H is a lever, pivoted to the main frame at k, and passing through thepiston rod G, which lever, when released, will, by its Weight I, at oneend, raise up the pressing mechanism after the piston-rod F has beenraised up by the steam in the cylinder D.

J is a screw-sleeve for raising or lowering the rod G to adjust it tothe molds.

Steam may be admitted to the valve chest E in the direction of the arrowl, and the exitport may be in the direction ofthe arrow 2; and when themachine is of a portable character the steam-pipes should be exible toadmit of its being moved.

The operation is as follows: Suppose the steam piston to have beenraised up and that the weight I to have raised up the pressing mechanismconnected to the rod G. The mold and glass being now ready and properlyplaced the operator draws down the rod e, its

wedge-piece d entering between the pieces c c of the jaws a. a, whichcloses the jaws, the

steam, by the drawing down ot the rod d, is admitted above the piston inthe steam cylinder, and its rod F moves down and comes against the jawsa., which in turn rest upon the top of the plunger rod G, and thus theplunger-rod and plunger are driven down into the mold. Now, the end-softhe two rods F G, as well as the sides of the jaws a a, being beveledoft' or angular, the continued pressure of the piston rod F will spreadthe jaws a, and in so doing bring those 0 against the wedgepiece d,forcing up said wedge'piece and the chain and weight then raise up thearm h and shut off or reverse the steam, so that the piston-rod F mayrise. But before the steam is reversed the operator seizes hold of thelever H and holds the pressing apparatus for a few moments for the glassin the mold to chill or set after the piston-rod F has ascended or movedup. Then, by letting go the lever H, the Overpoise I carries up thepressing apparatus and everything is ready for a second similaroperation. The requisite pressure upon the glass is defined by theopening of the jaws a, which in turn shut oii' or reverse the steam, asdescribed.

Having thus fully described our invention7 what we claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. Operating the piston ofa plunger in glasspressing by the applicationof steam applied in the line of the piston or plunger, substantially asdescribed.

2. The separation between the plunger-rod and the piston-rod, so thatthe latter may, af-

ter forcing down the plunger, raise up, while the plunger remainsmomentarily down, for

.the purpose and substantially in the manner inder, substantially asdescribed.

FREDERICK MCKEE. CHARLES BALLING-ER. Witnesses:

0. B. STEvENsoN, J osEPH H. SMITH, ALEXR. McLEAN.

